


Shopping at the Crazy Mall

by Ultra



Category: My Boys (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkward Conversations, Drunken Confessions, Epiphanies, F/M, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Kissing, Season 3 Finale, Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-31
Updated: 2011-01-31
Packaged: 2019-07-11 03:05:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15963377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra/pseuds/Ultra
Summary: AU Season 3 Finale. After being told by PJ that he needs to stop dating crazy girls, Brando gets a little drunk does some serious thinking. Suddenly he realises the reason for his behaviour has been right there in front of him the whole time.





	1. Epiphany

PJ was bleary-eyed and not amused as she staggered from her bed at the hotel to the door upon which someone was knocking too much. It wasn’t very loud, in fact it was quiet enough that Bobby was sleeping through the noise, but it was constant and annoying, and not exactly what PJ wanted to be dealing with right now.

“What’s going on...?” she began to ask as she opened the door and her apparently very drunk friend almost fell in on top of her. “Brando?” she said with a frown as he caught himself with one hand on the door frame, attempting to right himself. “What are you doing?” she asked, but all Brendan did was shush her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her out into the empty hall way.

“I figured it out,” he told her, bouncing around like an excited kid in spite of the fact he was clearly out of his head on booze. “I did, PJ, I figured it out,” he repeated pointlessly, as his friend looked around ensuring they weren’t disturbing anyone and pulling the door to her room almost closed so they wouldn’t wake Bobby with their talking.

“What did you figure out at 2am?” she asked pointedly, though Brendan didn’t seem to notice the look or the tone as he sat them both down in the window seat across the hall. “Other than the fact that beer plus scotch equals crazy drunk dude,” she went on, though he was still more fixed on what he had to say it seemed.

“All the crazy chicks, man,” said Brendan, waving his hand in some random gesture. “Shopping at the crazy mall, hooking up with girls and... it goes wrong, every time.”

“I know this, Brando, I was the one that told you,” PJ pointed out with an amused grin that she could not help - he was just such a funny drunk.

“Yeah! Yeah, you did!” he said, a little too loud and excitable about it, causing his friend to urge him to quieten down. “But, see, I thought about it and, I had like this... thing. This... epiphany,” he settled on with a snap of his fingers as the word came to him.

“Wow, that’s a big word,” said PJ with a little sarcasm in her tone.

She couldn’t help it. Whilst she was happy to be there for her best bud if he needed her and she didn’t mind at all that he wanted to talk to her about his relationship issues, right now so wasn’t the time for it. It was two in the morning, she should be in bed with her boyfriend, all curled up and snuggly, getting plenty of sleep. Instead she was sat out in the hall of the hotel, wrapping her arms around her body that was clad only in shorts, a vest top, and nothing else.

“See, I only date crazy girls because I don’t want it to work out!” said Brendan, jabbing his finger into his knee with every word as if that made his point all the more valid. “I don’t want a relationship with any of them!”

“Okay...” said PJ slowly, wondering what the grin on her friends face was all about when he was talking about his disastrous love life and why it was in such a state. “Well, I’m really glad you figured it out, Brando,” she assured him, patting his leg as she got to her feet. “but it’s late and-”

“No, wait a sec, I’m not done,” he told her, catching her hand in his and turning her back around. “There’s a reason why I’m screwing up with all these women,” he said as he pulled himself up onto shaky drunken legs.

Honestly, PJ just wished he’d get on with it and say whatever he wanted to say so she could go back to bed and sleep off her own share of booze that she’d gotten through today. She had work to do tomorrow, and they’d be headed home before long. The travel would be kind of a bitch and...

“It’s you, Peej,” those three simple words cut through the mess of thoughts in her head, and PJ’s eyes shifted to meet Brendan’s own.

“Hey, wait a second, what’s me?” she checked, a frown forming on her face as she looked up at her best friend and he stared back at her with an expression that was way too intense to be good.

“You’re the reason, PJ,” Brando told her softly, his hand going to her cheek, fingers moving back through her hear as he leaned in closer. “It’s always been you,” he said, seconds before his lips touched her own for the briefest of moments.

“Oh my God!” she said, backing up a step and almost causing Brendan to pitch forward onto the floor at her feet. “Oh, no, no, no, no, no,” she repeated too many times, putting her hands to her face and shaking her head in the hopes that all this would maybe go away.

This was maybe the last thing she had been expecting tonight. Sure, Brando had been acting a little weird since they talked about him needing to date normal girls instead of those who needed strait-jackets and padded walls to save them from themselves, but PJ had chalked that up to the beer and all. She hadn’t for a moment thought that her best friend was going to come knocking on her door at two in the morning to tell her he loved her or something, and that she was the reason he had no serious relationships.

“PJ...” he said, reaching for her arm to turn her around to face him again, but she pulled free of his grasp immediately.

“No, no, no!” she continued to repeat. “You can’t do this to me, Brendan, you just can’t!” she said in an angry but low voice, ever mindful of being heard if she spoke too loudly. “Okay, you are having a bad time with women right now and you’re drunk and... and you don’t know what you’re saying,” she told him definitely, poking him in the chest with her index finger to hammer her point home.

“It’s not like that, Peej,” he tried to tell her. “Okay, it is kind of like that,” he admitted off her unimpressed look, “but I know what I’m feeling, I know that you are the one I...” he was cut off from saying another word as PJ’s hand came up to cover his mouth just at the moment she realised the door to her room was opening.

“Hey,” said Bobby with a confused expression that wasn’t so very surprising as he yawned and looked between his gifrlriend and her best friend. “What’s going on?” he asked.

PJ shook her head, letting her hand drop away from Brando’s face as she painted on a smile and started talking fast before he had a chance to. She could really use Bobby not hearing the things her best friend had been saying right before he opened the door!

“Hey, Bobby.” She grinned. “Brando is... he’s kinda drunk.” She rolled her eyes as she got hold of her friend by the shoulder and started pushing him down the hallway. “Obviously, he’s got a little lost so I’m just gonna walk him back to his room,” she told her boyfriend cheerfully. “I’ll be right back.”

Bobby watched the two disappear around the corner, still finding the whole situation a little odd. Brendan had been drunk before and PJ had gone to deal with that on a couple of occasion. They were such good friends, and it didn’t bother Bobby in the slightest that his girlfriend’s BFF was another guy. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t trust them, or so he thought. If he didn’t he wouldn’t have gone back to bed the way he had, leaving the pair to their own devices. Around the corner, Brendan tripped up and fell back against the wall, almost pulling PJ over in the process. He found it funny, she did not.

“Smooth moves, Peej.” He giggled like a kid, immediately looking entirely adult when he spoke again. “So you gonna come in and ‘tuck me in’?” he asked her, waggling his eyebrows.

“Brendan!” PJ smacked him across the shoulder perhaps a little too hard as they reached the door to the room he was sharing with Mike and Kenny. “Get in there and sleep it off!” she ordered like an angry mom or something.

The second Brendan leaned on said door, it opened, almost sending him sprawling.

“Kenny, what the hell are you...? Brando?” said Mike as his buddy fell against him. “What happened to him?” he asked PJ who was by now beyond frustrated by this whole situation.

“He’s drunk and being dumb,” she said crossly. “You take care of him, I’m going back to my room.” She sighed, storming away and leaving a very confused Mike still holding onto Brendan in order to keep him upright.

Of course, no-one was as confused as PJ as she headed back to bed. Her mind was racing with all that had happened in the last five minutes. First, she was in bed sleeping with her boyfriend, Bobby, the guy it had taken forever to figure out a relationship with. Next thing you know, Brendon is at her door, worse the wear for drink and falling all over himself to tell PJ that she’s the reason he can’t get a steady thing going with a decent non-crazy girl.

PJ honestly wasn’t sure how to take what her best friend had told her. Whether he meant to imply he was in love with her or not, she honestly wasn’t sure, but the fact they were even having a conversation about that kind of thing again made her head hurt. It had only seriously come up twice; the first time in Senior Year of college when they made out at a party and the next day Brando had totally ‘what’s upped’ PJ in the library; the second, a moments reminiscing on the fateful day of their college experiment which had led to further admittance of feelings, a couple of very hot kisses, and one very big mess. After both these times, PJ and Brendan had agreed they were better off preserving their friendship and not pursuing a romantic relationship. Now it seemed he was having doubts on whether or not that was really the best thing for them.

Sure, there were times when PJ had wondered herself if they might be closer one day, at least each others safety nets if they hit forty and still hadn’t found Mr and Miss Right to spend their lives with. Of course, these thoughts and feelings had all but gone away when PJ got serious with Bobby. She had always liked the guy, hell, she put the moves on him the first day they met, and the bumpy road they’d travelled as both friends and more had led them here, to a really happy place that PJ was loathed to leave. Unfortunately, as she slipped into her hotel room and faced the sight of her boyfriend lying in bed waiting for her return, she wondered if she was going to have much of a choice.

“Hey.” He smiled, gesturing for her to come on over. “I was thinking, since we’re both awake...” He gave her a look that told PJ what exactly he’d thought, but honestly, after what had happened with Brendan, she just couldn’t.

“Actually, Bobby, I’m pretty tired,” she said, forcing out a yawn as she moved to get into bed, turning her back on her boyfriend and not even offering him the chance of snuggling as she turned out the lamp beside her head. “Goodnight.”

Behind her, PJ felt Bobby flop down onto the bed, and heard a disappointed sigh escape his lips. He wouldn’t be mad at her, he was just such a nice and understanding guy, he would totally believe that she was tired and let it go. Of course, she had to live with the guilt of knowing the real reason she couldn’t make love with her boyfriend right now was because another man was on her mind. Whichever way she looked at it, PJ knew that was wrong, but she just couldn’t help it.


	2. Harsh Light of Day

Brendan Dorff was, without question, hung over. Honestly, he was so hung over that he really wasn’t sure he could move from his place laid out on top of the covers of the hotel bed. Across from him, Mike was already up and dressed, and unfortunately for Brando, talking loudly.

“I don’t get it, man,” he was saying for about the seventh time already. “I mean, if we can’t get girls here, how could Kenny get a girl? Kenny never gets the girl, and he’s up against baseball players here! It’s crazy!”

There was some kind of noise that came out of Brendan in response, but he couldn’t form words right now. He didn’t much care where Kenny had slept last night, he was only glad he’d got the bed instead of the floor to try and sleep off all the booze. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had half as much sleep as he would have liked yet and knew that even when the hangover was gone, memories of what he’d done would remain.

When Mike finally left the room, slamming the door behind him, Brendan buried his face in the pillow and wished away the pain in his head that was only half caused by the after-effects of all the alcohol he had drunk last night. The other part of his pain came from knowing he had come so close to screwing things up with his best friend.

PJ must think he was crazy, getting drunk and trying to put the moves on her. He handled it badly and he knew it now more than ever, but last night had been such a moment for Brando. In a drunken haze, one clear and true fact had hit him right between the eyes - he loved PJ. He’d always know that, of course, known that she was one of the most important people in his life and that he cared about her a lot, but he’d never really let himself believe that he could be in love with her, never let himself think that maybe they could have a future as a couple in the romantic sense.

There had been two occasions when they crossed the line, shared a kiss and genuinely considered the possibility of them being together that way. In the end, he backed out the first time and she did it the second time. They stayed best friends and moved on, she more so than him as she started a relationship with Bobby. Brendan had tried to be happy for her, he honestly thought that he was, though in the back of his mind the only comfort he could find was that PJ’s relationships never did last long. It seemed like a horrible thing to hope for, that two of his closest friends would break up before long, and yet it hadn’t really occurred to Brando that he wanted it to happen until yesterday.

Frowning hard, Brendan turned over again and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. He couldn’t remember precisely what he’d said to PJ last night, or what he’d even meant to say, truth be told. At the same time, he recalled the feelings that had come rushing through him at the instance of his self-proclaimed epiphany, the exact moment when he realised that he’d been such a fool for so many years.

PJ was the girl, no, the woman that he was meant to be with! She was the sane and sensible person he was destined for and yet had never been brave enough to really go for it with. Hence the shopping at the crazy mall that he knew had to stop. He never wanted it to work out with these girls because deep down he was just biding his time, waiting it out, until the cosmos realigned somehow and he and PJ fell into each others arms in a perfect romance novel moment... or whatever.

“Gotta fix this,” Brendan muttered to himself, knowing he had only himself to rely on to figure this out right now, as he forced himself to get up off the bed and into the shower.

Usually in a crisis he turned to PJ, for everything from a shoulder to cry on to sound advice. In this situation, she was at the centre of the mess he’d gotten himself into, and the only person who could get him out was himself. That didn’t thrill Brendan much at all but he had no choice. He was going to have to have a serious talk with PJ about their relationship, and if at the end of it she still just wanted to be friends, he was going to have to learn to live with that.

Of course, the better outcome would be for her to admit she felt the same way about him and for them to be together, but right now Brendan couldn’t afford to get his hopes up. All he knew for sure was that PJ deserved to know how he felt, and he had to tell her, but before any of that he needed coffee, lots of coffee!

* * *

“What do you think? PJ?” Bobby prompted her when she failed to answer his question and once again appeared to be staring pointlessly at her breakfast. “Hey, you okay?” he checked, putting a hand to her arm and getting her attention at last.

“What? Yeah, sure, I’m fine,” she told him, forcing a smile. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?” she asked, attempting to look interested, though her boyfriend wasn’t buying it; he knew her too well.

“You seem kind of out of it this morning,” he said as he stared at her trying to figure out what might be wrong. “A little distant, maybe?”

“I’m fine,” PJ told him definitely, though Bobby remained unconvinced as she began attacking her eggs with perhaps too much gusto.

If she were honest, PJ knew she was being weird though she was doing her level best to hide the fact she was feeling so strange. She’d barely slept since Brando’s drunken confession last night, thinking over what had gone before and what might come next. He was drunk, she kept reminding herself of that, and of some of the crazier things he had said and done before when in such a state. Unfortunately, she also remembered making out with him twice and a couple of awkward conversations when they reaffirmed their friendship and nothing more. She recalled the disappointment she had felt too, or at least she thought that was what the feeling was, though she had always tried to convince herself she was being a fool…

“Guys, over here!” Bobby suddenly called across the restaurant and PJ glanced up to see Mike and Brendan in the doorway looking around.

“Er, I have to go check in with the paper,” she muttered, and before Bobby had a chance to argue with her she was gone, breakfast abandoned and conversation over whether he wanted it to be or not.

Brendan saw her dodging away at the sight of him and was not prepared to let her get away so easy. If nothing else, he could not go through life with her ignoring him completely, that might just kill him. She didn’t have to love him like he loved her, though he hoped she did and was pretty sure he was right, but he couldn’t have her mad at him or running from him, he just couldn’t.

“Hey, Peej, wait up!” he called as he moved around the edge of the restaurant and caught her arm as she attempted to escape out the far exit.

“What do you want, Brando?” she asked him crossly, perhaps snapping a little more than she should’ve and realising it immediately she looked at him and saw that kicked puppy expression that he did so well. “I’m sorry” she apologised to the second person in a row this morning. “I didn’t sleep so good last night.”

“That’s kinda what I need to talk to you about,” her friend admitted, his eyes meeting hers and telling her that he remembered everything he said to her last night, for better or worse.

Unfortunately, this could not just be swept under the rug and forgotten about like she’d hoped. PJ had to be a grown up and face up to the fact she and her best friend were about to have another serious conversation about the nature of their relationship, however awkward and scary that might be.

“Okay,” she agreed with a nod. “Let’s take a walk,” she suggested, mindful of Bobby being close by.

They headed outside, the sun brighter than Brendan’s aching head would’ve liked, but he couldn’t care right now. Of course this moment was important and yet now he was here and facing it, he hadn’t a clue where to begin. It had seemed so much easier to say what he felt last night when the liquor was fuelling his words. Now they scrambled in his head and stuck in his throat in the worst way, leaving him to flounder when PJ asked what exactly he wanted to talk about, as if she couldn’t guess.

“See, this would be so much easier if I could’ve talked it over before I had to say it,” he admitted, feeling like a dumb kid just as soon as she looked at him, “but the person I go to for advice is you and... Peej, you gotta know where I’m going with this,” he said, stopping walking and urging her to do the same as they faced each other.

Looking up into the eyes of her oldest and best friend, PJ felt so strange. He was worried about saying whatever it was he wanted to say, which ought to make her feel better rather than worse. The fact that he was as scared as her about screwing up their relationship should be a comfort and yet, all she could think was how awful it was that he was suffering because of this thing between them.

When they were friends and only friends things ran smoothly, they both knew that, and every time they went for it in the romance sense, they backed out even faster than they went in. Right now, it was her turn to stop this before it started, in the hopes it could be forgotten for another couple of years or something.

“Brando.” She sighed. “Look, I get it,” she told him. “Last night you got drunk, said some stupid stuff.” She shook her head, keeping her eyes from his as she continued. “It’s no big deal, okay? I’m not mad about it, so we can just put it behind us, pretend it never happened, and move on, okay?”

She forced a smile as she glanced up at him, putting her hand above her eyes as she squinted against the sunlight that shone from behind him.

In such a situation, it was impossible to read his expression and they were both glad of it, truth be told. Brendan struggled to take in what she was saying and come up with the right response. He didn’t want to sweep his feelings under the carpet, not again, and yet if that was what PJ really wanted, he couldn’t argue and risk ruining their friendship, he just couldn’t.

“Okay, that’s cool,” he said at length, bouncing his head in an awkward nod, just as Bobby appeared from the same door they had exited moments before, clearly looking around for his girlfriend. “So, we’re good?” Brando checked when PJ followed his eyeline and spotted Bobby for herself.

“Of course.” She smiled in what appeared to be a genuine way but then to be fair her friend didn’t get much of a look at her to know for sure, before she was hurrying over to Bobby and going easily into his arms for a kiss.

She couldn’t know that as Brendan watched the couple together his heart was breaking. If only he had spoken up about how he felt when they were in college, or better explained himself a couple of years ago when he and PJ shared that hot kiss at the apartment. Instead he always allowed her to steer him away from a romance for them, and in his head Brando convinced himself he was a fool to think anything more than close friendship existed between them. Now he knew for sure that his feelings for PJ were genuine and real, and not likely to disappear any time soon. How he was going to deal with that was the real problem he faced now, but he figured he’d start with some hair of the dog and work down from there. Maybe it wasn’t the most sensible solution to his problem, but it was the best he could come up with right now.


	3. Coming Home

It was Poker night and PJ was hoping for a little normalcy to go with the beer and cards. Things had got kind of weird when she and the guys were away at Spring Training, but she hoped now they were home everything would return to its usual state of being. Unfortunately, if PJ were honest with herself, she knew that was unlikely to happen, not least when Andy came through the door, strolled right on over to her, and wrapped her up in a big old bear hug.

“What... what is going on?” she asked as she awkwardly hugged back. “Andy, we don’t hug,” she reminded her brother who was acting way, way out of character.

“Promise me you’ll never leave me again,” he urged her, apparently not letting go until she did as he asked.

“I promise,” she quickly agreed, feeling better when he hadn’t got a death grip on her body, and going back to taking poker chips and cards from the case on the table. “So, you missed us, huh?” she said, as Andy took a seat.

He never got a chance to answer as the apartment door opened a second time, signalling the arrival of Bobby and Mike, the former of which came bearing a gift that he almost dropped when Andy leapt up from his seat and hugged his startled buddies with one arm each.

“Never leave me again,” he told them. “Promise me!”

“Er, we promise?” said Mike, looking at PJ over her brother’s shoulder and making a face that said, ‘What the hell is going on?’.

She could only shrug in response since she really didn’t understand it herself.

“Okay,” said Bobby, very glad to be away from the guy who had just knocked the breath out of him and all too easily. “We found this on the doorstep, Peej,” he said, proffering the bottle of scotch he was holding to his girlfriend.

“Wow, it’s from Jack Briscoe.” She smiled, reading the label. “I can’t believe he really liked my column,” she said, shaking her head in genuine astonishment.

“I guess Brando’s idea of us all heading out to see Spring Training really was a smart one,” said Bobby, taking his seat at the table.

“No, it wasn’t,” Andy quickly replied, though Bobby didn’t really hear as his eyes remained on PJ who shifted awkwardly and muttered something about putting her scotch away.

She was gone in a flash, disappearing into the kitchen, her boyfriend staring after her and wondering what to do for the best. She’d been acting weird since a couple of nights ago and he just couldn’t figure out why. Part of him thought it had to do with Brendan and yet that didn’t really make any sense either.

“So where is Brendan?” Andy asked Mike. “And Kenny for that matter?”

“Kenny missed our flight,” the red-head explained, “but Brando?” he over-acted a shoulder shrug, his arms and hands making the universal gesture for ‘beats me’. “He’s been acting kinda weird for a while now.”

“Yeah, so has PJ,” said Bobby in a low voice, just in case she could hear him. “You think they had a fight or something?”

“Hey, man, you’re her boyfriend,” Mike pointed out. “If anyone should know what’s going on in her life, then that is you, my friend,” he said, pointing at him with both index fingers for effect.

“PJ and Brendan don’t fight,” said Andy definitely. “I think they’ve actually got mad at each other like a half dozen times the whole time they’ve been friends,” he tried to recall even that many occasions when they had fallen out.

Bobby took in what was being said and his face fell. He hadn’t been thrilled by his girlfriends odd and distant behaviour anyway, and had suspected something might have happened between PJ and her male best friend. It bugged him enough that she wouldn’t want to talk to him about it, but now he was seeing this whole thing from another even less palatable angle.

PJ and Brendan had been best friends since college, pretty much lived in each others pockets. Bobby was pretty sure she was closer to Brando than she even was to Steph and though the bond never bothered him much before he started dating PJ, it didn’t feel so good since they got together. He was never going to know PJ as well as Brendon did, it just wasn’t possible, and that didn’t make him very happy. Add to that the fact that apparently the two friends hardly ever fought, it just made Bobby feel like a really lousy boyfriend right now.

“Hey, guys,” said a voice from the door, and in strolled the very man everyone seemed to have on their minds. “What’s up?” Brendan asked in general as he sat down on the other side of Bobby.

“Nothing” “Nada” “Not a thing” were all said over the top of each other by his three buddies, just as PJ came back into the room.

Brendan looked over his shoulder to glance at her, offering a half-hearted smile that she barely returned as she leaned over to park a bowl of chips and a six pack of beer bottles on the poker table.

Even the simple ‘Hey Bren’ that came to mind got stuck in PJ’s throat. She just didn’t know how to act around him right now, and the more time passed, the more she thought on what had happened on their Spring Break type trip, and the angrier she got at her best friend for making her feel so confused.

“Okay, are you moving or what?” she asked him suddenly, catching everyone’s attention with her harsh tone.

“Am I moving?” Brendan echoed, not really sure what she was getting at as he pulled a beer from the pack.

“Get up. Move,” she encouraged him, not looking amused as she waved her hands in a gesture that went with her words. “You’re in my seat, Brendan.”

“Since when is there assigned seating on Poker night?” Mike scoffed, until PJ turned her death glare onto him. “Since now, apparently,” he muttered, busying himself with drinking his beer and not being involved in whatever the hell was going on here right now.

“C’mon, Peej, what’s the big deal?” her supposed best friend asked her. “You can’t sit on this side?” he waved a hand over to his left.

The expression on PJ’s face was as if he’d asked her to give up baseball or something rather than just change seats. She seemed so mad at him, and though he covered it with a smile and a chuckle, deep down Brando guessed what was wrong and hated it. Things just hadn’t been right between them since the night he got drunk and told her she was pretty much ‘the one’. Sure, in the morning, they’d chalked it up to experience like they always did and everything was supposed to go back to normal, but that hadn’t really happened. The past couple of days had been so awkward, neither of them knowing how to behave around each other. PJ seemed to be angry at him for something, though for the life of him Brendan couldn’t figure out what. Her behaviour upset him, and that pain was only ever going to come out as anger if she continued to bait him.

“Brando, would you just move your sorry ass out of my chair!” she all but exploded, making her other friends back up their own chairs very definitely from the table.

Brendan looked appropriately stunned, and Bobby could do nothing but look between the two of them glaring at each other a moment. Finally, Brendan got to his feet, swung his jacket from the back of the chair over his arm and threw his parting shot in PJ’s face.

“Fine, if that’s the way you want it to be, fine!” he said, apparently almost as angry as she was as he stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

It took all of five seconds of stunned silence before PJ went tearing off after him. Bobby thought maybe he should go too and yet he found himself stuck to the chair somehow. If his girlfriend and her best friend had been fighting, they probably needed a little space to figure it out. That’s what the sensible side of his brain said, whilst the other somewhat paranoid half asked why PJ hadn’t bothered to confide in him about any of this. Either way, chasing after her and Brendan didn’t seem such a bright idea right now.

Out in the street, PJ made it to the main door of the apartment block, just in time to see her supposed best friend reach the bottom of the stairs, pulling his jacket on as he went. She was equal parts mad at him and mad at herself right now, knowing she shouldn’t have yelled at him for something so dumb and at the same time needing to blame him for throwing her whole brain out of whack these past couple of days with his drunken declarations of romantic love.

“Hey, Brando!” she called after him, rushing down the stairs almost fast enough to send herself flying.

“Just leave me alone, PJ!” he threw over his shoulder as he continued walking, though he ought to have known she wouldn’t do that.

“No, I won’t just leave you alone!” she told him defiantly as she caught up to him, reaching a hand out to his shoulder and jerking him back. “I’ve had enough of this now.”

“Oh, you’ve had enough of this?” he checked, just about as angry as she was right now. “What about me? The past couple of days, all I’ve gotten is the cold shoulder from you, and just now in the apartment?” he gestured in that direction. “You just totally lost it over a chair!”

“Hey, I have not been cold with you, man,” she said definitely, knowing the other accusation was much harder to defend herself against. “And even if I was, I had a reason!” she yelled back at him.

“Tell me the reason, PJ,” Brendan urged her. “’Cause I’m at a loss here,” he said, arms wide in a gesture to match his words. “Okay, if anyone should be mad about something, it’s me.”

“You? Why?” she wanted to know. “You’re the one that almost screwed up our whole friendship for a third time by telling me you had romantic feelings for me, when you were drunk!” she told him crossly, not really thinking about the fact they were in the middle of the street or what exactly she was yelling about.

“I can’t help the way I feel, PJ,” he countered, equally as oblivious to the secrets spilling out of his mouth apparently, so driven by anger and frustration with this whole thing. “And you were the one who wanted to sweep it all under the rug in the morning, instead of being honest about how you feel,” he told her, getting in her face.

They were eye to eye and toe to toe, mad as hell at each other and having no way left to express themselves but with action rather than words. Either she was going to lash out and hit him right in the face or the far more pleasant option that actually occurred as they made a grab at each other in the same moment and their lips met in a fiery kiss.

It was different to the last couple of times and yet strangely familiar in the same moment. In college they had been drunk and last year he’d done all the running. This time, they’d come to the same place at the same time, and fireworks happened when their lips met. All the passion that fuelled their argument today was just a charade, a facade for the real feelings to hide behind. Loving each other as any more that friend would be awkward, messy, and potentially a disaster, and yet over time so much had been bottled up thanks to denials on both sides of this relationship.

Now it came pouring out in a white-hot kiss that went on as long as they could both stand not to breathe. When they eventually parted, it would be tough to say who looked more shocked out of Brendan and PJ, and yet they were both smiling as the stunned expressions began to fade and they realised this was what they’d both wanted from the start.

Friends to lovers was supposed to be the best it could get, and yet they’d never dared leap in, not really. The last couple of times, it’d just seemed easier to pretend it never happened, but after Brendan’s drunken realisation that his past relationships had all crashed and burned because he was just holding out for PJ, she had fast come to recognise that she had been doing the exact same thing. They had been waiting for each other this whole time, and finally it seemed they had come to the same time and place with the same thought in mind, at long last.

Just as they both opened their mouths to speak, to confess what they were thinking and feeling, to start the process of figuring out where they went from here, PJ froze. Her eyes were no longer focused on Brendan’s own, but over his shoulder at another couple who were kissing in the street.

“What the hell?” she gasped, causing her friend to frown as he followed her gaze.

He looked equally shocked by the sight of Stephanie and Kenny swapping saliva right there on the corner, having apparently just got out a cab together, complete with luggage.

“Oh my God,” said Brando, with as much surprise as PJ was feeling.

What on Earth had Spring Training done to them all?


	4. Aftermath

“I don’t understand how this happened?” PJ gasped for perhaps the fourth time in as many minutes as she and Steph sat across a table from each other in Crowley's. “You and Kenny, you hate each other.”

“There is a fine line between love and hate, PJ,” her friend told her, eyes shifting to stare at her man over at the bar getting drinks alongside Brendan. “And we stumbled across it somewhere along the way.”

PJ wasn’t sure how to take this in, couldn’t find a way for her brain to comprehend the idea of Kenny and Stephanie being a couple. She meant what she said, they always seemed to hate each other, and whilst she had to agree with her friends statement about that emotion being very close to love, it still seemed so weird. 

“So, how long have you two been...?” she asked, not sure whether ‘going out’ was the right term since she couldn’t imagine she would’ve missed it if two of her closest friends were actually making dates together.

The only thing PJ could think was that the basis of their relationship was physical and that just squicked her out even more. They just were not an obvious pairing, not even close, and though she was sure the same could be said of herself and some of her past boyfriends, she really wasn’t thinking all that clearly right now. This was one turn of events too many for PJ and her brain was starting to feel a little scrambled to say the least.

“Well, it’s not very lady-like of me to kiss and tell,” said Steph, “but the first time was at Bobby and Ilsa’s non-wedding,” she explained, a PJ’s mouth dropped open in shock.

“But that was... Oh my God, Bobby!” she suddenly exclaimed, her brain clearly switching from one thought to the other too fast as her hands went to her head and she gasped.

Stephanie wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now, and was glad when Kenny and Brendan returned to the table with a glass of wine for her and a pitcher of beer for the rest of them to share. The two men sat down beside the girls, both looking at PJ who still had her head down with her hands over her face.

“Peej?” said Brendan worriedly, his hand shaking her shoulder. “You okay?”

“Brando, what are we going to do about Bobby? And the rest of the guys?” she said desperately, her head coming up so fast she almost smacked him in the face by accident. “They’re still at the apartment, probably thinking we tore each other to shreds or something by now.”

“Did we miss something?” asked Steph, looking pointedly at Brendan’s arm which had crept around PJ’s shoulders and was hugging her close.

“Were you guys fighting before you saw us or...?” Kenny tried to figure out what he was missing, but came up blank.

PJ looked to Brendan with a question in her eyes and he shrugged his shoulders.

“We know their secret,” he reminded her. “Besides, I don’t know about you but I could use a little outside advice on how we’re gonna deal with this,” he admitted, realising the one person he usually turned to wasn’t going to be any use to him in this situation, since they were both very much in it together.

“So, you wanna do this?” she asked, a nervous smile creeping across her lips now as her eyes gazed into Brendan’s own. “Make the leap this time?”

“That was the plan.” He nodded his agreement, and despite all the problems that were going to come from this, that much they both knew, somehow it already felt as if it was going to be worth it.

“Okay, I’m confused,” said Steph, looking between the two. “Are you confused?” she asked Kenny, not giving him a chance to answer before she continued on. “Because the only thing that would make sense of what you two are saying right now is if you and Brendan were... Oh my God, you are!” she gasped of PJ’s bashful smile then. “You two are getting together... finally!”

“Looks that way,” said PJ with a giddy kind of a smile, as Brendan’s hand found hers on the table and their fingers intertwined. “But this literally just happened like ten minutes ago,” she admitted, feeling kind of overwhelmed by this whole thing.

“Oh, honey, no,” said Steph shaking her head definitely. “This?” she pointed between the two people opposite her. “This happened years ago, you two were just too blind to deal with it.”

“I have to say,” Kenny chimed in before anyone could argue, “kinda always been waiting for you two to be done with dating all the other people in Chicago so you could end up together,” he said with a shrug, making both PJ and Brendan look at him with some surprise.

“Dude, you knew we’d end up together?” asked Brando with a chuckle of incredulous laughter. “We didn’t even know that!”

“Love is blind,” said Stephanie, looking pointedly at the man beside her, and Brando laughed all the more as he realised just how true that statement really was.

Deep down Brendan supposed he had always known that PJ was the only woman for him, but it had taken a very long time before he was ready to admit that to himself. Now wasn’t exactly the best time for him to admit what he was feeling and have PJ do the same, not least because she was dating Bobby. That was one obstacle in the path of their relationship that neither of them was thrilled about knocking aside.

“So, what happened with you and Bobby?” asked Steph, as if on cue, and PJ visibly winced at that question.

“Um, he kinda still thinks we’re together,” she said awkwardly, “because up until a few minutes ago, I thought we were still together.”

“The guys are actually at the apartment waiting to play poker,” admitted Brendan, looking just about as awkward as his would-be girlfriend at this point.

Their eyes were on Stephanie, pleading with her to help them fix this. After all, she was the relationship guru with her self help books and all. If anyone could get them out of this mess with everybody’s heart still intact it would be a miracle, but they had faith that if anyone could pull it off it was her.

“Okay,” she said, at length, turning from the couple to her boyfriend. “Kenny, I need you to go PJ’s apartment, tell the guys to go home, Poker Night is cancelled,” she told him, turning immediately back to PJ and Brendan.

Before she managed to speak again, Kenny cut in.

“Hey, just because we’re kind of a couple now, does not mean I’m gonna just do whatever you say,” he told Steph, changing his mind immediately she turned a death-glare on him. “Well, maybe this once I will,” he muttered as he slid out of the booth, gulped down the rest of his beer and hurried away.

“Okay, now, you two,” said Steph, looking at the happy couple on the opposite side of the table with a grin on her lips that threatened to split her face in two. “You know I am totally all for you two being together and everything, but we need to do some damage control. Bobby is going to be heart-broken losing you,” she told PJ, her smile fading some then. “Let’s face it, girl, you are a catch and he worked pretty hard for you, which is not to say you didn’t,” she added quickly, glancing at Brendan, “but it’s still gonna be hard.”

PJ looked from Steph to Brendan feeling torn. She knew her friend was right, at the same time she knew how much she cared about Brando. From friends to lovers, it was meant to be as good as it could get and she had experienced a little of that with Bobby. They were good together, after things had got straightened out, and she had been seriously contemplating a future with the guy. Still, when faced with a choice between him and the man sat beside her now… she just couldn’t imagine her life without Brendan in it.

“Oh, man, I just had a thought,” he said suddenly. “If the guys leave your apartment,” he told PJ, “where are they gonna go?”

“Oh my God, they’ll come here,” said PJ as realisation hit her and Steph’s eyes went wide too.

“I’d like to think Kenny would be smart enough to keep them away but... it’s Kenny.” She rolled her eyes, apparently no kinder about the guy now she was dating him than before when they played at hating each other.

“Steph, can we go to your place?” asked PJ as she practically pushed Brendan out of the booth and followed behind him. “I really need to talk to you about this,” she said desperately reaching out to her friend for any support she could get.

Stephanie looked over her head at Brendan, feeling awkward. She could see he wasn’t happy that PJ felt so confused. He just wanted things to be done, sorted. Men were so simple, they just wanted everything figured out instantly and move on. Women understood that things were never that straightforward, that they needed planning and talking through. Even PJ, who functioned for the larger part like a guy could see this wasn’t going to be a simple situation.

As diplomatically as possible, Stephanie told PJ she was welcome to come to her place to talk and that Brendan should go home, chill, and try not to talk to the guys until this was figured out. The woman was in her element as far as the would-be couple could tell, organising people and dispensing relationship advice. Thank God they had someone like her in their lives.

* * *

It was way past midnight and PJ knew she didn’t stand a chance of sleeping when she arrived back at her apartment alone. Stephanie had been a great friend, they’d talked things through in a way she would usually hate but felt necessary tonight. She wasn’t a girly girl, she didn’t do deep and meaningful talks about feelings and all, and she didn’t burst into tears at the drop of a hat, and yet tonight she had done both.

She tried to go to bed, but her head was still buzzing with all that had happened, not just tonight but a couple of days ago with Brendan, before that with Bobby, and a hundred other times. Pieces of the past mixed with possibilities for the future had her tossing and turning til she just couldn’t stand it any longer. There was no way she was going to get any rest til this was done.

Getting up out of bed, PJ got herself showered and dressed. She considered breakfast but just couldn’t face it. The clock on the wall said 6:30, way too early to be going and dragging the poor guy out of bed, but it had to be done. She didn’t want to live like this any longer than she had to, keeping the two main men in her life in limbo. It was like telling them one could be pitcher for the Cubs but not saying who. It was fine when she didn’t really know herself, but PJ had figured out what she needed to do now and she wouldn’t be changing her mind anytime soon. She owed both men the honest truth and they should have that as soon as possible.

It didn’t take long by bus and suddenly she was there, knocking on his door. As it opened she forced a smile that he was going to see right through, but she had to try.

“Hey, Bobby,” she said. “We really need to talk.”

“Yeah,” he said as he stepped aside and let her into his apartment. “Conversations that start this way always end so well,” he said, sad tone of sarcasm evident.

PJ just couldn’t find anything to say to make him feel better right now.


	5. Years In The Making

PJ was exhausted when she got back to her apartment. She was glad today was not a work day for her or Bobby, they really did need to have a serious talk and that was precisely what they had done. She hadn’t expected to get so upset when explaining to him why they had to be over, but she guessed it ought to have been an obvious reaction. He was a nice guy, a really nice guy, and like she’d told him herself, any woman would be lucky to be with him. Unfortunately, she just wasn’t that woman and she did not belong with Bobby.

Anyone would be mad and upset in such a situation, PJ had expected that, but what she maybe hadn’t expected was how well he’d taken it in the end. Sure, he’d yelled and ranted some, asked how long she and Brando had been together behind his back, which had really stung. As if she would do that to him! In the end, Bobby had apologised, knowing what he’d said was wrong and by the time he and PJ parted it was with a hug and sad smile. This chapter of their life was over, the one where they were together as a couple, pretending they were forever when deep down neither of them was entirely sold on the concept.

‘Too many emotions, not enough sleep,’ PJ thought to herself as she trudged up the stairs to her apartment, planning to collapse in a heap just the moment she cleared the door. She got quite a surprise when she realised that there was something blocking her from even reaching her front door, or more specifically someone sat in her way.

“Brando?” she was genuinely surprised to see him sat there, his back against her door and knees pulled up to his chest,

“Peej,” he said, up on his feet the second he realised she was there. “I was starting to worry about you,” he admitted, shifting from foot to foot, looking as if he was seriously considering whether he was allowed to move at all.

She didn’t say a word, just walked on over and threw her arms around him, hugging him tight. Brendan hugged back, glad of her reaction to his presence. All he’d wanted to do since they parted ways at Crowley's last night was come see PJ and hold her in his arms again. They’d waited years to get this far, and there was a certain amount of fear in him that worried it might all be over before it had really begun again.

“Oh, I needed that,” said PJ with a sigh as she moved out of his embrace a little, not actually leaving the circle of his arms but back enough to see his face. “Brendan, please tell me you’re still sure about us” she urged him.

“PJ, c’mon,” he said with a shake of his head. “I’m not changing my mind now, no way,” he promised her. “It’s always been you, and yeah, it took me a while to realise that and to be... I don’t know, man enough to say it, I guess, but I’m not backing out now.”

“Good, neither am I.” She smiled up at him, leaning in to kiss his lips just briefly before opening the apartment door and leading him in by his hand.

“Where’ve you been all this time?” he asked as they abandoned their jackets over the back of the couch and she headed straight to the kitchen to make coffee.

“With Bobby,” she admitted, not even glancing at Brendan as he came to lean his hands on the central counter watching her. “I couldn’t start anything new with you until I talked things through with him,” she explained. “It wasn’t right.”

“I get it, I do.” Her best friend nodded, hearing the emotion in her voice that she was trying to hide. “Hey, Peej, come here,” he urged her, walking around the counter to reach for her and turning her back into his arms as she cried.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out. “God, I’m so dumb. I must’ve cried more in the past two days than I have in my whole life,” she complained, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Brendan considered, lifting her chin with his finger so she would look at him. “You remember in college when we had that chick flick movie marathon for Steph’s Birthday?” he reminded her, making her gasp and then laugh lightly.

“Oh my God, I was a wreck!” she declared as she recalled the day all too well. “When I offered her anything she wanted at the video store, I expected girly movies but I thought she’d pick out comedies!” she chuckled. “I don’t think there was one that ended happy,” she complained.

“And you cried like a baby the entire time!” her new boyfriend and oldest friend reminded her with a grin he couldn’t help.

“Like you didn’t,” she countered, slapping him playfully in the shoulder for trying to make her feel dumb.

“Me?” he said, eyes wide as if he were shocked. “No way,” he argued, then off her look he realised he had to be honest. “Okay, so maybe a little.” He rolled his eyes as he made the admission for her ears only.

It was good to laugh and enjoy this moment, but all too soon reality hit home, reminding them that there was no way they could live this relationship in the past. This was the here and now, and there were more people involved than just the two of them. Brendan looked too serious and PJ already knew what the next words out of his mouth were going to be.

“How’d Bobby take it?” he asked, and she visibly winced as she was forced to recall her mornings activity.

“I don’t know.” She sighed, turning out of his arms to pour out two mugs of coffee now the machine was done. “He took it well, I guess, if you can take getting dumped well,” she said sadly. “I never meant to hurt him. I mean, I do love him, in a way, I just...”

“I know,” Brendan assured her, his arms encircling her waist from behind and his chin resting on her shoulder. “I get it, I do.”

“Yeah, you get it, and Steph gets it,” said PJ, “but how are the other guys gonna handle this?” she wanted to know as she abandoned the coffee to turn around and beg an answer out of him. “I mean, Bobby is their friend too, and besides can you honestly see Kenny, Mike, and Andy accepting us as a couple without making every possible joke about it?” she whined, looking closer to further tears than Brendan could bear.

He had no doubt that this relationship was worth it, but it kind sucked that PJ at least had to go through so much trauma for them to get where they were going.

“Peej, they make jokes about everything,” he reminded her, “and they’ll get bored,” he insisted, pushing loose strands of hair off her forehead and back behind her ear. “Besides, Kenny said he was always expecting us to end up together, maybe Mike and Andy will be the same?” He shrugged, apparently much less bothered by everyone else’s opinion on their relationship than she was. “And can you imagine the hell Kenny and Stephanie are going to go through when the guys find out about them?” he almost chuckled at the prospect of it all, despite how serious PJ still looked.

“I guess,” she conceded, still feeling bad.

It had to be, what she’d done to Bobby more than anything. Above all else PJ Franklin was a good person, it was one of the things Brendan loved most about her, but it often led to her suffering. She would beat herself up over the dumbest things. Not that it was wrong to feel bad that she just dumped Bobby in favour of him, it was a tough break for the guy and even Brando felt kinda bad that his buddy had to get hurt in all this. Still, he didn’t want PJ feeling guilty about their relationship forever, it would become unbearable.

“And as for Bobby... I don’t know, I guess that’s gonna take a little more time,” he said thoughtfully, reaching past her to pick up the coffee mugs and motioning for her to head to the living room, “but hopefully, one day, he’ll wanna come hang out again,” he said, not entirely certain that was right but saying it anyway.

Truth be told if it was him, he wasn’t sure he could stand the idea of hanging out as just friends with a woman he’d once dated, especially if she was dating another of their mutual friends now. He couldn’t see that ever being a problem for him in the future though, because Brendan truly believed he and PJ were for keeps.

“What’s that grin for?” she asked curiously as they say down together on the couch and his arm crept around her shoulders, pulling her close.

“You,” he admitted, still smiling, “and me. God, PJ, this has been so long coming, and yeah, okay, I admit it’s gotten complicated and it’s gonna be that way for a while but... it’s you and me, we’re together,” he said, almost as if he was realising it for the first time as their eyes met. “I think deep down I’ve been waiting for this since we first met in college,” he told her, feeling just a little dumb for being so emotional and sappy right now.

Still, this was PJ, she didn’t care if he acted like an idiot in good ways or bad. She always wanted him around, she never judged him too harshly, and she was the one permanent feature in his life that he never wanted to lose. Brendan couldn’t picture a life, a future, anything without her in it, and now it seemed he didn’t have to try.

“You know I love you, right?” she said in nothing more than a whisper.

“Of course.” He smiled down at her, his hand going to her cheek as she moved in close. “I love you too,” he promised, as they closed the final gap between them and kissed.

It felt right, it felt good, it felt... like coming home somehow. All the other guys in PJ’s life (well, not all of them, but a lot of them) had been really cool. They were kind and funny and good looking, and she couldn’t really find fault with them, except for one flaw. They weren’t Brendan Dorff.

When she had accused her best friend of shopping at the crazy mall, deliberately sabotaging all his own relationships, it hadn’t entirely occurred to her til later what a hypocrite she’d been. Bobby notwithstanding, she’d really had some major screw ups with men, made some lousy choices and all.

Finally, here they were, where they both ought to be, together and happy. Maybe this time it would work out okay after all.

* * *

The guys were a little suspicious to have been invited to Poker Night two nights after the original that didn’t really happen and all by text message. Something seemed weird, but at the end of the day the offer of a card game and beer was all they really needed to get them to show up. Mike and Kenny arrived together with Andy following just a minute later before anyone had a chance to ask what was going on. PJ and Brando shared a smile as they other sat down at the table and prepared to play.

“Where’s Bobby?” Mike asked when PJ started shuffling the deck of cards, sitting down across from him with Brando to her left.

“Um, yeah,” she said awkwardly, putting the deck down on the table without dealing a single card and looking from Mike to Brendan and back. “He’s not exactly coming,” she explained awkwardly, knowing this was why they were all here and yet dreading having to do this for fear of the reaction.

“There’s something you guys should know,” said Brendan with a pointed look at Kenny since he already had half the information before they even began.

“PJ and Bobby broke up?” he said, making it sound like a total guess in spite of the fact he had to be 99% sure what he was saying was true.

“Oh, sis, you okay?” asked Andy as PJ’s eyes went to the table. “You don’t want me to offer to kick his ass, do ya?” he checked, his hand on her arm. “I mean I could and I would but-”

“No, thanks, Andy.” She smiled, unable to help herself as she glanced up at him and saw the abject relief on his face. “Bobby didn’t do anything wrong, we just... we weren’t right for each other, I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, hands still playing with the cards on the table, cutting the deck and shifting it around for something else to do. “That’s not exactly all the news either,” she said, looking to Brendan for help.

“Okay, so me and PJ,” he said, picking up her hand off the table and holding it tight. “We’re kind of... together now. Like together, together,” he emphasised, making sure everyone got his meaning, even Mike who wasn’t usually all that on the ball.

“Huh.” Andy reacted with no more words than that.

“Cool,” Mike threw in, taking a slug of his beer. “Sucks for Bobby, obviously, but... meh.”

“Makes sense.” Kenny nodded. “So, er, who’s dealing first?”

PJ was kind of bowled over by the non-reaction from her friends and brother. She had expected them to be a little more surprised that first she had broken up with Bobby and now she and Brando were together. Sure, she had wanted them to be okay with it and not judge her, but she had hoped for a little more response than this to such a big change in her life.

“Guys, seriously,” she said, waving her free arm in some emphatic gesture as Andy reached for the deck of cards she’d abandoned and got to shuffling them. “You cannot just brush this aside like it’s nothing, this is a big deal!” she told them in no uncertain terms.

“Peej, if you’re happy, we’re happy,” her brother assured her.

“Exactly,” agreed Mike, “and besides, we saw this coming from a mile away. We’re talking months ago.”

“Years maybe,” said Kenny thoughtfully.

“Probably was,” Mike agreed with a nod, as PJ and Brendan stared at the three of them in real shock.

Obviously it was great that the guys were cool with them being a couple, but it was still quite the surprise to hear they had been expecting it to happen for so very long. The two of them really hadn’t realised it fully until a few days ago, after all!

“To PJ and Brendan,” said Andy, raising his shot glass in some kind of toast.

Kenny and Mike followed suit and so the new couple decided they ought to join it too, clinking their glasses and bottles together.

“To no more shopping a the crazy mall,” added Brando with a grin in PJ’s direction.

“Oh, yeah,” she agreed wholeheartedly, clinking her beer bottle with her boyfriend’s own and then understanding that wasn’t exactly what he meant for her to do as he leaned in closer and their lips met in a brief kiss.

The guys wolf whistled and made a fuss at the display, until PJ picked up a handful of poker chips and shied them across the table at their heads. None of them actually hit anyone, but then she hadn’t really intended them to.

“Hey, if you’re done with the crazy mall,” Mike said to Brando, sipping his beer, “can I have your discount card?” he asked, tipping him a wink.

“Dude, what does that even mean?” his friend asked him, as all eyes turned to the red-head waiting for an answer to the question in all their minds.

After a moment's thought, Mike shrugged his shoulders.

“I have no idea,” he admitted, as everyone laughed, and the first round of poker began.

PJ glanced from her cards to the faces of her brother, her boyfriend, and two of her best friends. It was sad not to have Bobby here because he was a good guy, and she did hope one day they’d all be able to hang out together again. In the meantime, this was good, better than good even, and given the cards she was holding in her hand right now, PJ could only see it getting better!


End file.
